"On Tuesday afternoon, two hydrologists and two mechanical engineers from the corps were in a government jet headed to New York. The jet was expected to land around 5:30 p.m. at the Westchester County airport in White Plains, N.Y., one of the few airports open in the New York metropolitan area.

"The team plans to first assess the severity of the flooding, and over the next few days more personnel would most likely be sent to New York, said Rodney Delp, the chief of the team, which is based in Rock Island, Ill. ...

"'What they typically do is look at engineering drawings to look at the natural low points and what the natural drainage may be, and how long it will take to drain,' Mr. Delp said of his team. 'They then look for areas to breach, figure out what size of pumps to use for the water,' and begin the process of removing the water."

The Atlantic Wire was certainly amused by the name, too. So they talked to Delp who explained that "unwatering" as opposed to "dewatering" means removing water from a place where it wasn't supposed to be in the first place.

In other words, what they want to accomplish in the subway.

The Atlantic also gets the details on how exactly this team does its job. Among its tools: "trailer mounted trash pumps," and "self priming pumps" that "can pass water and even golf ball-sized debris."